


Fallen Hero: Rebirth

by Psyionic (Kirann_Oswin_Meadows)



Category: Hosted Games, Original Work
Genre: Corruption, F/F, Female Antagonist, Heroes to Villains, POV Antagonist, Psychic Abilities, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 13:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14594079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirann_Oswin_Meadows/pseuds/Psyionic
Summary: My name is Anael and I was once the most famous vigilante in Los Diablos. Regularly teaming up with the Rangers.Now I'm out for revenge. And not even they can stop me. I will become the worst supervillain they will ever encounter. And I will destroy them.Retelling of hosted games Fallen Hero Rebirth by Malin Rydén.My story version.





	1. Chapter 1: Brawl

**Fallen Hero: Rebirth**

**by Malin Rydén**

The tackle tore the air out of my lungs. I was sent up into the sky and flew several blocks before landing roughly on a car. It wined and blared its alarm as I dragged myself off the hood. Shit, I wasn’t expecting to be hit that hard. Not hard enough to be disoriented.

The safety glass of the car shattered with a sharp crack as I ducked in time to avoid a manhole cover that was aimed at my face. Shards explode outward like a snowstorm and I dive to cover behind another car. It was a useless attempt though as a rocky boulder was launched into the car slamming it into a bridal store beside me sending mannequins toppling down and launching plastic parts into the street. The alarm rang out accompanying the car I smashed into earlier.

Dismembered limbs. It was too familiar. Was I experiencing this right now? Or was I having another flashback? Reality was being wrenched right out of me. Memories were threatening to overwhelm me. For a moment I wasn’t sure where I was or who I was. What was I even doing?

My chest heaved up and down as the panic attack began to set in.

Up. I need to get up. I think desperately. I couldn’t get up though. My feet were jello, my arms were noodles and useless at my sides. My mind was slowly slipping, losing control. No! I can make this work. I’m stronger than anyone.

I planted a foot on the floor and dragged myself up. And not a moment too soon. Another boulder of concrete pulled from the road slammed into the spot where I was. Pebbles and small rocks bounce off my metallic skin as I try to make a run for it.

The important thing is that I was back in control; I have not spent the last two years preparing myself just so that I can blow this all out of proportion in just one flashback. I was better than that. I was powerful. Much more than any simple powered human. Plus this was far too important to allow for failure. At least I haven’t lost my grip on the small black box I stole just a minutes ago.

Priorities. I have them straight. Right now my main focus was getting out of here. In one piece no less. But that might not last, at least not with Herald on my tail.

I catch a flash of his indigo suit as he flies through the wreckage he caused in the street. People were fleeing without even looking at what was happening. I guess they had tolerable survival instincts.

The ground shook with his heavy footsteps. He was catching up to me. His speed was surprising for a lumbering lump of muscle. Usually, people with super strength suffered a decline in manoeuvrability and agility. But not this guy.

My gut was pulled towards the floor as I was tackled again. Crao. This was starting to hurt, even through my invulnerable skin. We crashed through a building’s wall and entered a mall. He didn’t stop running though. He kept on going holding me in front of him as we smacked through vases, glass, carts, and the walls of rooms. So much destruction. I almost felt sorry for the owners of this property. It would cost them a lot of money to replace this stuff.

But I didn’t care. I had to protect the box. Even with my own body if necessary. It was worth my life.

I keep the box cradled to my chest protecting it from the damage it could garnish if it were out in the open. I was able and willing to take all the punishment I was going through by having Herald smash me against the brick walls. I’m not sure whether he would try to grab it from me rather than knock me out, but I wasn’t willing to take that chance. I can handle the pain. I hope.

Fuck!

I had no idea how much it would actually hurt to be tackled through a wall. The shows on television made it look so easy. The characters just always got up and continued on with what they were doing as though it was nothing other than crashing into a few pillows. But the truth was far more different than what was portrayed in the media.

The initial impacts always slammed the air from your lungs preventing any breathing. Which meant a lot of lightheadedness from doing it many times over. Not even impervious metallic skin prevented the blunt force that caused that. Being crushed against the brick walls is a bit tougher to explain.

First, imagine yourself being sandwiched between two things. Like being in-between two mattresses. Then imagine what it’s like to have something lay down on top and be slowly squashed. Having the two cushions press against you trying to meet each other. Finally, there’s the momentum being built up as the structural integrity of one of the two mattresses starts to give in and break. It’s basically like that, except it’s with very tough rock and none of the softness that mattresses offer.

Compressed flesh, bone-deep bruises blossoming under tough, silver skin. Then the metal supports bent and pulverized the concrete as it blows upward in a cloud of dust. Some of it was getting into my eyes. Thankfully, while in my invulnerable state, nothing could affect my eyes. So that was a plus.

Herald finally came to a full stop. He exhausted his speed. No more crashing through walls. Then I remembered. This isn’t my body.

This is Lady Argent’s body. I always thought that she was invincible, her silver body shedding bullets as though they were nothing but raindrops. Slender muscles strong enough to punch through walls. Toned calves that could launch a pickup truck into the air for several metres.

I’ve seen her fighting on illegal video feeds snatched straight from the Dark Web. Not to mention her officially sanctioned propaganda. She was always cocky. Always direct with a predator’s smile on her face ready to hunt you down. She was the perfect woman of silvery steel, and no one ever caught a hint at how much it actually hurt. Doing the things she did.

And I always admired her. I was even jealous of her body. I always wanted to know what it was like to be her.

And now I did. I also knew the pain she went through and what she had to do to cover it up. This was what she hid from the cameras. What she hid from the public’s eye.

I grunted as I felt another blow connect with my cheek. Herald had struck me again. Rgh! I lashed out at him throwing a jab at his side. He screamed in pain. Super Strength didn’t mean invulnerability. Ha!

There was a problem though. That punch felt a lot more painful. Argent was beginning to wake up. I had to finish this up fast. Before she pushed to the surface.

Yet, I’m cleverer than she is. I run her body and trap her mind. With those precautions, it’ll give me a bit more time to execute what I wanted to do.

It only took a brief second for me to shift her mind back into another nightmare loop. It should be enough to keep her busy. Fighting your own demons was taxing enough, I knew it from experience. And as long as I could keep her mind asleep, her body would be mine to manipulate at my own desire. She wasn’t like the normal puppets I’m used to controlling. I’m not going to risk it by letting her close to the waking world. If I did then I’d be back to square one.

I have the tiger by the tail now. It was my job to keep it in the dark if I wanted to be the dominant person in this relationship. Easy enough for me.

I can’t tap into her memories or her true skills though. I’m not that competent with my psychic powers. One day I might be though. For now, I would just have to settle for what was on the surface of her mind. Just a stumbling marionette with its hijacker in the brain taking control. That was all I was. But this marionette was one of the most powerful women on the West Coast.

I used to be a good hand to hand fighter back when I was still in the hero business, but I was never at her level. If only things were different.

When I was on the side of the angels, I didn’t use my powers to possess people; instead, I would use them to skim the surface thoughts of others and map intentions. I knew when someone would take a shot and it would allow me a chance to be elsewhere. Evasion. That was my main offence. I wove illusions and distractions to keep up with the best and the worst. I used guns, toys, any kind of technology at my disposal to cover up my weaknesses. I was just a physically sound and normal well-trained human. I wasn’t one of those superior enhanced people. But I never ran in blind. I always had a backup plan. Something that I didn’t plan for this time.

It took every ounce of my power and will not to mention skill to keep the mind of my host in check. Keep her locked up in her nightmares. To keep her unaware of what she was really doing, fighting a fellow Ranger.

Or rather that someone else was doing it for her.

Everything was going so perfectly right up until Herald showed up. Lady Argent was one of the Rangers so she had clearance to remove things from their vault. And with a fake replacement in place, nobody would ever know that anything was missing or that there was something wrong with any artefact unless they looked for my particular container.

And then Herald spotted me on the way out. I panicked. Hit him and made a run for it. I was too panicked to think straight at the moment. It was my first time doing something like this and my paranoia overtook my reasoning and I crapped up a perfectly easy task. Now here I am a couple city blocks away surrounded by so much destruction.

“What’s gotten into you, Argent?” he asked as I wobbled unsteadily. If I’m not mistaken I’d say that there was a hint of worry in his question. Though I couldn’t know for certain since my empath ability didn’t work when I was in the body of another person. I’m completely headblind in this Meat suit. Or rather, metal skin suit.

I smiled threateningly. He should be afraid of me, not worried for the safety of Lady Argent.

I let my smile break out into the open because he was closer to the truth than he would ever know. Something did get into her. Me!

Herald needs to be taken down a peg. And who was better capable of performing the task other than me using Lady Argent as a suit? I never liked him. His tousled blond hair and picture perfect smile that always ready for the cameras made me despise him. That was the only reason why I deemed him unsuitable for possession. My feelings towards him would’ve affected my ability to control him well. As a Telepath, my emotions influence me far too greatly. Lady Argent was the better choice in the long wrong. Especially since she would be useful as bragging material.

Sadly, I still needed to remain anonymous. So I kept my mouth shut. Even when his eyes widened in worried surprise as the woman he knew so well suddenly looked at him like he was just a piece of meat to be toyed with. Which if I’m perfectly honest, it was what he was there for.

I rushed him in order to take him out fast. I landed a hit on his face breaking his nose. He backed away from me holding his nose in shock. There was a steady stream of blood leaking out of his left nostril. A broken nose still didn’t stop him from looking so dashing though. How dare he.

“Please, Argent. I’m sorry. Is that what you want to hear? We can talk about this.”

So he hadn’t seen me smuggle out the canister. He thought this was all personal. I wonder what exactly he did to make my host mad. There had to be trouble in paradise if I was going by what he mentioned right now.

It didn’t matter. And I didn’t care enough to make it matter. So as he began to hover closer, I kept myself wary...until...he was close enough!

I didn’t have the best motor control after the beating I’ve taken, but there was nothing wrong with my punches. My sudden movement had overwhelmed Herald. I hadn’t given him enough time to react. It wasn’t a secret that he and Lady Argent were lovers, and for a moment, worry caused him to hesitate. So even as my blows connected with his body, he did nothing to me. Which was weird considering that he had no problem fighting me earlier. He might’ve been blowing some steam off back then.

He didn’t even flinch when one of my punches hit him squarely in the jaw causing his eyes to glaze over as his body hit the ground. Now that was a satisfying sight if I ever saw one.

No one would ever be able to replace me. He could take my spot on the Rangers, but he would never have my skills.

The box was now safe and whole. That was the most important part for me. But there was no time for petty vengeance right now.

I won’t be the idiot who gets caught just because I couldn’t resist the temptation to drag things out. I was that stupid. I’ve seen far too many villains fall on that particular trope and suffer for it. It was something that usually came back to bite you in the ass. Usually at that exact moment. There were far too many rookie villains and cocky ones to fill in that stereotype. I think they should watch more movies to learn from them. It was basic villain 101 if you wanted to avoid capture.

It was an effective way to lose a fight. As long as the hero had a team that could rush in and save them before it was too late, it would always lead to the downfall of the villain. And a team was something that I no longer had. So adapting to my situation was the next big step.

Time to get out of here. Not out into the streets, but further back into the mall we both ruined. I wasn’t exactly innocent of the mess created here.

It would be safer to go in as surely more members of the Rangers would be arriving. Especially ones I had no intention of running into. Steel. Charge. I don’t know which of them would be worse. And I had no intentions of finding out myself.

Tearing through the mall, I ignored the pandemonium the people were causing. People panicked way too easily. Yet many had no sense of survival. I could see from my peripheral view that most were ducking behind mannequins, clothes racks, and other stuff that wouldn’t protect them if I decided to take out my anger on them. Mindless idiots. There was even one employee in one of the stores hiding underneath a desk that was obviously out in the open revealing his position.

A quick look over my shoulder revealed nothing but the rising dust. Good, Herald was still knocked out. I take a moment to stop and release my breath that I’d been holding before opening the door to my freedom. Luck is with me. There were no police and instead lead to a back alley. Deserted and filled with trash.

This is the best chance I’d be getting. Sucking in a deep breath, I drop the canister I’d been protecting the whole time into one of the cans. Within seconds I was back out into the street with the sunlight glittering of my metallic bodysuit. Cars screeched to a halt as I stepped into the road.

All that was remaining was going out in a true supervillain fashion. I had what I came for, and it was time to let this puppet go. She served me better than I expected. Yet, I couldn’t resist lingering inside her brain. It was just too good for me.

I was just starting to get the hang of how her drug tweaked biology worked. The powers were thrilling. I’d never experienced such strength and invulnerability. Raising cars above my head and tossing it down the street was very euphoric. A woman of steel in a world of cardboard. I lept onto a truck and raised my hands towards the heavens and laughed.

This was the making of a new proper villain. We laugh because there was no one to stop us and silence us. We laugh because we can. The joy of this was incredible—the world was so beautiful when it burns causing people to scatter like ants. It was the sign of true power.

Maybe I was still a child at heart, along with all other enhanced, dressing up in bright revealing costumes, playing gods or devils. The notion was so ridiculous it incited another laugh from me.

But then I caught a glimpse of cars being thrown aside. No care in the world for the civilians inside. Marshal Steel. He was barreling down at me, massive fists swinging like pendulums as he gained speed. His power armour might actually be able to do serious damage. A lot more than Herald for sure.

But I didn’t care. It wasn’t my body. I wouldn’t be the one to suffer in the morning. Well, I would, but that would just be a headache at worst.

I jumped down from the truck and onto the road creating some cracks with my weighted impact. I started strutting in Steel’s direction as he was coming closer.

A loud crash and soundwave shattered glass around us as his fist connected with my stomach. I was sent flying down the street and crashed into a tanker. The metal was crushed underneath my body and gasoline began to leak out of the thing. The liquid just ran down my body like it was nothing. It didn’t bother me. Not even a normal person would be bothered if they were slathered in gasoline. As long as there were no sparks flying, everyone would be perfectly safe. Including myself.

I slipped down and landed with a heavy clunk on my knees.

Tensing my borrowed legs, I jumped up to meet steel with a punch of my own. I landed a hit against the cheek of his mask violently making his head turn. Then I proceeded to deliver several strikes towards his torso and kicked him in the groin. Each strike made him move back slightly.

I don’t know what was going through my head. Normally I wouldn’t be risking a lot in fighting someone like Steel. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but I wanted to know if Argent could really take on someone as strong as the Marshal. She did fight an armoured enhanced, Calamity, to a standstill once. Whatever the reason. I was here now. Brawling with the leader of the Rangers.

I focused the metal on my fingers to change, move, and shape themselves into claws. It was something I’d seen Lady Argent do on the screens. Could her claws penetrate his armour?

To test out my question, I dug my claws into Marshal’s helmet. I smirked at his jerked surprised reaction. I was successful. My claws were able to go into his suit. Now to proceed and tear that armour off of him so that I could see the rest of him.

Before I could get more than 3 tears into his suit, a massive metal gauntlet hit my face and launched me off him. That hurt. It seems like he got an upgrade.

And just before I could slam to the floor, I was knocked out of her body.

There was a moment of vertigo when I opened my own eyes. I immediately lurched over my bed and puked onto the floor.


	2. Appearances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People never take into account the simplest of people.

My stomach was still aching and my throat was burning with the acrid tang of the taste of bile. I felt more bile struggling to push itself up through my throat. I made a dash for the bathroom. Leaning over the sink, I continued puking. It was disgusting. Some of the bile even found its way out of my nose. My stomach was turning and making flip flops the entire time.

After I finished emptying out my stomach, I looked into the mirror. This was something I don’t do that much.

The sharp smell of bile filled the air fighting with the sweet scent of the bathroom. My clothes hadn’t survived my little accident. There were chunks of green still clinging to my black shirt. Even some on my hair. Disgusting.

It was hard to stay standing up without steadying myself by grabbing the edge of the sink. The world had stopped spinning but I was light headed now.

I looked away from the mirror and began to rinse myself. At least cleaning some of the mess of the vomit from my hair would help get rid of the air clinging to me. After finishing I gave myself a once over in the mirror again. It wasn’t my favourite pastime, looking at myself. It was too easy to be reminded of who I used to be.

After slipping out of my vomit covered shirt, I stood in my bra and began to try my best to clean myself with a few wipes. I didn’t have enough time. The canister I left in the garbage stood too much of a chance of disappearing. The sooner I got to it, the safer I would feel.

But I wasn’t satisfied with just wiping myself. I still felt too sticky and dirty. Not to mention that I stunk. I walked over to the shower and opened up the water. Sticking my hand in where the water was making its way down to the floor was enough to warn me how hot the water was. So after much fiddling with the knobs, I was finally satisfied and began to strip down. Then I entered the tub touching the cold floor with my bare feet.

In the world of voluptuous heroines and seductive villainesses, I wasn’t the most beautiful woman. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t something to look at. I was still able to grab the attention of any man I wanted. Though I would never do that outside of convenience. Men, well, men didn’t call my attention per say. I’ve dated a few women instead. But that was in the past when I actually thought that socializing would get me somewhere.

Standing out and having people around me was too undesirable to put it nicely.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine me as younger, more hopeful, and maybe even idealistic. The way I used to be. My naivety was something that I no longer could imagine. But then sometimes when I looked into the mirror, I swear that there were still some parts that were recognizable.

I faced upward into the shower head with my eyes closed. The feeling of the water pushing on my skin was very relaxing to me. And at that moment I was beginning to have doubts. Did I really want to follow through with my plan? Was it really the wisest choice? To sacrifice everything that I once believed in was something I would have considered unfathomable once upon a time.

I shut off the water and climbed out of the shower once I was completely clean. The fan was making the bathroom feel cold making my skin crawl with bumps. Unfortunately, there were no clothes or towels in here. I forgot to bring something in to cover myself up in the heat of the moment.

Before coming out of the shower room though, I paused in front of the mirror once more. This time I stared into my green eyes. They were the colour of sickness, poison and corruption. An emerald glaze covering the iris.

There were lines underneath my eyes. I didn’t want to admit that my age was starting to show. Being thirty wasn’t the end of the world, my powers had amplified with the years of experience, but it also left me with less stamina than I used to have. There were days that I really hated my appearance, and this was one of those.

I used to hang out a lot at a bar before this, and there used to be a guy that stuck around there just like me. He was always smitten with my appearance, always saying that he had a thing for Latinas. And I guess I fit his tastes. Though he wouldn’t be able to confirm what I tell you since I put him 6 feet under. No one would ever miss the creep.

But since that dreadful experience, I’ve been making sure to hide my appearances from everyone. One of the common disguises I used were sunglasses. Though I haven’t been using those recently.

But since I was a Latina, it was easy to blend in with the majority of the Mexican minorities that inhabited this city. Nobody would look twice at a common woman. And with the help of a little psychic influence, nobody ever would. So no one would ever remember my name or face as I appeared and disappeared through the crowd.

I’ve never once thought about telling people the truth. But one day if everything went according to plan, I would be able to walk through the crowd and revel in their fear as they recognized me.

After grabbing a new set of clothes from the closet. I went back to the mirror to fix myself up a bit. I was going to go get the canister myself. I couldn’t trust controlling another person to do that for me. Plus as myself, I would be allowed access to my psychic abilities. Headblindness wouldn’t be a problem for me anymore.

Brushing my auburn hair was very easy. The curled locks wouldn’t stay straight but they were still easier to manage. Part of it would be in thanks to having it short at shoulder length. I recently got a haircut so I wouldn’t have to worry about cutting it again. But even then I would probably ignore it until it actually annoyed me.

Going out myself wouldn’t really be a problem. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been in the newspapers. And even then I wore a mask. So there would be no way that anyone would recognize me. Not even the Rangers. There was only ever one person that I trusted with my identity and hopefully, they hadn’t divulged it to everyone.

I felt odd walking down the street like a normal woman when I had just fought as a silvery goddess just minutes ago. I was already a few blocks away from where I left the canister and I was already seeing the damage my fight with Marshal and Herald made. The road was ripped up from its foundations. Cars were totalled and crushed, buildings were barely left standing. There were even a few fire hydrants that were spewing water into the air. Nothing escaped unscathed. The shockwave I created in the fight made sure of that with the glass.

LDPD personal were everywhere questioning the civilians. Further down the road where I left Argent’s body, there was a crowd forming. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I went over to check what was going on.

At the centre of the crowd I could see Marshal Steel talking to the police, an unconscious Lady Argent was wrapped in a Kevlar netting in order to prevent her from waking up and causing more trouble. She was on the ground next to Steel’s feet. She looked untouched, still picture-perfect, even after the entire bout I had with her. The silver skin shined with the sun’s light making it look mesmerizing.

I wonder what she’ll remember when she woke up. I know for a fact that when I possess someone they have no memory of what I did while in their body. But never have I ever used someone for this type of thing. There were always gaps of memories that were left in their mind and I guess they filled it in themselves. But Lady Argent, I used her for a complete public thing. What would she fill the gaps with?

Marshal Steel, or Captain Wei Chen as he went by with the LDPD, looked much like the last time I saw him. Like seven had never passed for him. Maybe he’s made of the same material his armour is made of; no softness was ever visible in his face, just the stern sharp angles and lines that filled his face when he contorted it to form expressions as he saw fit. If Lady Argent was considered new, he most certainly was not.

I wasn’t supposed to know his civilian identity, but then again there were few things that you could successfully hide from a telepath.

The familiar frown etched into his face. What’s he going to say?

I leaned in trying to figure out what they were talking about. My telepathic powers would help me remain invisible to everyone. No more than an average person in the crowd.

The police were pushing the crowd back now. I was planning on slipping through them but I was starting to think that the safest thing would be to stop and gawk at what was happening along with the rest of the crowd. Just another person eager for a look at an actual superhero. Marshal Steel’s eyes skimmed over me briefly without recognition. I was just another face in the crowd for him. Just like I planned.

Though the police had shifted us back a bit, it wasn’t very hard to get a little closer to the conversation thanks to the pushing and jostling as everyone was trying to get a better look at Lady Argent on the ground. That wasn’t a very common sight in Los Diablos. Even with all the enhanced activity.

There were many phones out taking furtive shots of Argent. With the Public Privacy law making it illegal to film or take pictures of people without their consent or license, none of these shots would ever see the light of day. But if you were an avid user of the World Net, you would know where to look to find these shots. And it would be everywhere come evening.

Ever since the law was made official by the government, there was a lot of protest about how it conflicted with our 71st Amendment, The Freedom of Information. Especially when it seemed to only apply to those in higher statuses. Such as the Enhanced individuals that were registered and allowed to fight crime. It was a double standard that caused controversy among the public. If anyone ever found their face on the World Net they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it without a substantial amount of money.

“No, I don’t care what Mayor Alvarez has to say. You don’t have jurisdiction here. This is my city, not yours.” Marshal Steel spoke the way he stood, as if he were two seconds away from punching you in the face. He didn’t care who he spoke to, it was the same with everyone.

The first time I met him, I had the illusion that there had to be some sort of warm and mushy centre under the tough exterior. There usually always was. Personalities like his were just armoured exteriors protecting a fragile interior that was abused for so long. But after years of knowing him, I finally came to the conclusion that what you saw with him was what you got. He must’ve been in the military for far too long. That was the only explanation for it that I could come up with. Or maybe he just hated me too much to allow me a glimpse into who he really was.

“She rampaged through the Citadel Mall. An entire complex filled with innocent civilians. Many were injured. And she is to be held responsible for it. You are not above the law, Marshall.” The LDPD sergeant glared at the man towering over him standing his ground. It was really impressive.

“And that isn’t mentioning the mess she made to get there,” He continued.

Looks like the relations between the two groups hadn’t gotten any better with my absence. Good, it would make things a lot easier for what I was about to do.

“It is still not your jurisdiction.” Steel turned around clearly done with the exchange.

“Not my Jurisdiction? Not my Jurisdiction!?! I’ll have you know that the Police Department has more Jurisdiction than your little ragtag group of misfits! Especially when it comes from the Mayor himself. You’re the ones who have no right to be obstructing the Law!” The sergeant was clearly fed up with Steel’s attitude.

He stormed over to Steel’s side and placed a hand on his armour gripping it tightly to prevent the enhanced man from walking away from him. The crowd gasped at the sight, probably hoping for blood.

“If you can’t even control your own people, we—”

Steel turned facing the sergeant with his eyes nearly bugging out of his skull in fury. Yet he remained calm and composed as he gently removed the man’s hand from his armour. Despite the LDPD body armour being enough to protect them from a tumble through a brick wall, I knew that Steel’s combat suit could easily crush both the man’s head and hand if he wanted to.

“We are the ones who will deal with this,” Steel cut him off. “Whatever caused Lady Argent to run amok, it is our business. Not yours.”

“The mayor will be hearing about this, Marshal. And when he does, he will be very upset and will be paying you a call.” The sergeant rubbed his hand. Though I couldn’t see behind his faceplate, I could see that by the way he tensed up things were far from over.

“And I will be waiting for him,” Steel challenged.

The sergeant grunted as he turned to walk away. Before he could I closed my eyes for a moment and tried my best to ignore the sweaty pushing bodies around me and reached out to the LDPD sergeant’s mind. Joshua Miller. That was his name, but it wasn't important. Not that much to me anyway, though I knew a few people who would pay a pretty penny for that information.

I finally found what I was looking for in his mind. The rage that was starting to dwindle down to a flicker of a flame. I prodded it feeding it until it was raging like a burning inferno. His frustration that the Rangers didn’t pay any respect to the LDPD grew. It wasn’t hard to do; he had a fiery temper already, and I could feel his fist tense up and…

“I have no doubts that you and the rest of the LDPD are—” Steel began to call after him, but he didn’t get the chance to finish his thought before a fist connected with his face.

The blow came as a surprise to everyone, including Joshua himself. For a moment, everything froze. Then Steel brushed away the man’s fist to reveal a rising black eye. He shouldn’t have taken off his helmet, I smirked.

“I—” Joshua takes a step back, clearly not knowing what came over him, but I quickly pushed him back into the raging inferno. “I am so sick of you and the Rangers running roughsod over the law here. Just because it’s one of you who’s gone crazy doesn’t mean that we can just let it go! That’s not what we do to the villains you guys play with—”

“It. Means. Exactly. That.” Steel’s voice had gone dangerously low into a growl. “You will let her go into our custody.” Marshal picked Lady Argent up and slung her over his shoulder and began his exit.

This could easily escalate into a riot if I play my cards right.

“We’ll see about that.” Joshua gestured to his fellow LDPD officers, it wasn’t even that hard to fuel their respective anger into foolhardiness. Their guns were already drawn and aimed right at Steel. “Put her down!” He warned.

Normally this would be futile; he is too well armoured for the standard LDPD ordnance. However, he didn’t have his helmet on right now.

“Is that a thr—”

Gunshots fire bouncing off the part where his head was. I smiled, the Marshal would be no more. One less nuisance to deal with later. But then my glee dropped.

The gunshots stopped firing after firing their last rounds. Steel stood where he was not even turning to them. Disturbance in the air flickered around his head. It formed a circular blob around protecting him. That couldn’t be, that was a kinetic shield. Those things were outlawed in Los Diablos a decade ago. The enhancements could easily send you to jail for a few years. So how did Marshal Steel have one of those and why?

Darn him. Darn that rat.

“What the hell you dirty Rat?!” Joshua voiced my problems. “Those things are illegal in Los Diablos. I’ll put you in a cell myself,” his face furrowed into a glare as he gritted his teeth.

It took guts to stand up to Marshal and I admired the sergeant for that.

I slinked back into the crowd and found a volatile mind to push.

“Hey! You’re no better than a criminal!” the bystander shouts, a moment before someone else throws a half-eaten bagel at Steel.

“Yeah, you don’t run this city!” I make another man cry out.

“Go home, Rangers. Stop wrecking our city!” That last one I didn’t even have to push nor the next one who shouts, “You’re nothing but a pest, we don’t want you here!”

The beauty of a riot is that once you have a very definite energy bouncing around it’ll eventually turn into a fire that feeds itself. The bagel was the first object thrown, but it was soon followed by tires, cans, glass, anything that the people could get their hands on. And in the wreckage of the road that I created, it could become anything.

If I didn’t feel the rage threatening to push into my walls, I would’ve been laughing. But intense emotions like these are dangerous, especially when I’m already exhausted. I’ve stayed too long anyway. There was already a migraine building up so I stumble back blindly from the fight that was approaching.

This was very fun. Entertaining but also very stupid.

I dropped all of my awareness in an attempt to refocus my shields so that I could keep myself together long enough to leave.

Slipping out of the rioting crowd was a difficult task but with my tightened mental blocks I was able to convince a couple of people to move out of my way. Whatever happens with the riot now was no longer my business. I’ve had my fill of fun. Now it was time to get back to the task on hand.

I walked fast not turning back, no matter how much I wanted to.

The alley was deserted, just like when I left it. Everyone else had headed for the commotion down the road. I proceeded to open the trashcan where I’d dropped the canister and rummaged around a little before finding the box. I marvelled at its heaviness. Now that I was no longer in possession of Lady Argent’s body, I was able to feel how heavy it was.

It was an odd feeling. My future depended all on this little canister. But then again, I was always one to pay attention to all the details. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be alive today.

My mission was complete.


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma goes through a traumatic experience.

I arrived at my apartment greeted with the emptiness and peeled my clothes off once again. The quiet was something that I have gotten used to by now and I welcomed it. The walls were lined with material that blocked out the thoughts of other people, but my door wasn’t covered in it so that I can tell when someone was getting near. The air conditioner hummed and strained but kept the room as cold as I liked it.

The apartment isn’t really much to look at really. Perfect for someone who wanted to avoid notice. There was a pile of laundry at the foot of the bed where I had discarded my vomited clothes and current ones. I’d have to do some laundry soon, but I needed to catch on some sleep before tonight came. I was exhausted with the mental activity I went through today.

Tonight they were almost gentle, a warm fluid motion that lulled me into the peaceful depths of my mind. It nearly gave me a false sense of security, but I was already preparing for it. Tubes and cables erupted in my mind. Buildings and ruins. Loud sounds and the noises of war that forever echoed in my head made themselves present. Dreams are treacherous that way.

I guess I moved in the waking world cause I started to feel trapped underneath something. I couldn’t move or do anything. Almost as if I were in a straightjacket.

“We need to move,” a familiar voice said.

It belonged to someone popping their head up for a peek over the wall I was hiding behind. She withdrew as fast as she looked over. Sweat was already dripping from her forehead. “Hey! Get your head out of the clouds, Emma!”

The smell of gasoline woke me up just in time. Plasma hit the liquid causing an explosion levelling the wall we were hiding behind. Blue flames spread in a circle on the floor.

“We need to move,” she urged.

“Move? With him out there? Are you mad?” I asked, the things I was thinking about had already faded away. I didn’t even know what even went through my mind a while ago.

Going out of cover was dangerous. I already saw what one of those plasma blasts did to Steel when it hit him directly. It melted through his armour as if it were no more than a block of ice. All of the metal had splurged to the floor in a puddle. That could be us if we were hit by a plasma blast which is impossible to dodge!

“Probably,” Ortega admitted to her lunacy.

Her wide grin was a dead giveaway that she was about to do something crazy. It wasn’t even funny anymore. Those plans of hers usually ended up with one of us seriously injured.

“No. Whatever it is your thinking about, forget it. I won’t go along with another one of your death plans. The last time I did that, you ended up in the hospital,” I reminded her.

“That doesn’t matter. We need to take him out before he destroys the rest of the city. We are the last line of defence between him and thousands of people, Emma. I doubt that someone calling himself The Psychopathor is going to stop out of his own free will.”

“You have a point,” I admitted begrudgingly. I adjusted my mask a little, the thing was starting to slip with the sweat making it slick. “Aren’t the rest of your cavalry going to arrive soon? I thought the Rangers always got their man without any outside help. In fact, they usually don’t want me around because of Steel,” I narrowed my eyes at the unconscious Marshal hiding behind the remains of a building.

“Alas, my friend, the cavalry is us for today,” Ortega doesn’t wear a mask. So her bronze skin that’s tanned into a deep brown by the unforgiving Diablos sun, was out for the world to enjoy along with her long, black hair that was pulled back in a severe ponytail.

“Steel is down and out. Taking the baby nap he’s needed his entire life—” that remark earned a snicker from me— “And Anathema and Sentinel are up north helping out with the latest quake. We’re just spread too far and thin—so when are you going to accept my invitation and join properly?” she turned the tide of the conversation against me.

“Is this really the best time for it?” I asked as snuck a look at Psycho who was obliterating every hiding place he could spot.

“What do you mean? It’s the best moment to ask!”

The reality was that I didn’t want to register as a hero. Once vigilantes registered, we were subject to the laws and orders of the governments. Our reach and involvement would begin to be decided by them while we had to bend to their will. Although it wouldn’t really affect me much since the only times I went out to fight crime was with Ortega. But still, I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of thinking that they owned me. It just didn’t feel right to me. I’ve brought this point up so many times to Ortega that I’ve lost count but she always shrugged that off and pointed out that I wouldn’t really be affected by it. Her ignorance just made me want to scream sometimes.

“I have no plans to register,” I said flatly with a shrug in an effort to shut down the conversation before it leads back into the territory it usually went. I followed Ortega as she crawled along with wall starting to look for a better angle of attack. “I’m flattered that you think the government would be worth my time, but I like my anonymity.

“Too bad. The health benefits are second to none,” she joked flinching as another blast tore through the building next to us. Psycho was now firing blindly making him even more dangerous and unpredictable. This was bad. When villains got like that, it usually meant the destruction of entire cities, not like this one would’ve survived his rampage.

“I’m not the one who needs the health benefits, old woman,” I tease.

“Old?” Ortega huffed as she crawled along the wall some more while being careful to keep her head down. “I’m not even thirty!”

“Yet…” I smirked. It was one of Ortega’s sore points. She was a lot older than me—not that it shows in the least. Especially not when it came to maturity level. But I have seen a lot in my life, things that Ortega wouldn’t believe even if I dared tell her. So in that aspect, I was way beyond any maturity level Ortega could ever gain. It was something that I found pride in. My experience was my greatest weapon. Ever since I met her, I found it nice to have someone to be friends with.

But that was as far as I was going to let her get. I’m not the type of person to let anybody get closer than that.

Being friends is a whole lot closer than I’ve ever let anybody get close to me. And that was only because she wouldn’t stop insisting on helping out during the first few months that we kept running into each other. It was annoying at first, but I’ve come to enjoy her company. I appreciated it; it’s just that I never planned for it. Ortega just completely blindsided me. In the end, though, Ortega treated me well, even though nothing of me was known by anyone but me.

Another explosion ties my thoughts back together to focus on the real world. The shot missed but it blasted a huge hole in the wall where we were cornered now. It was now or never.

“Do your thing when you get the chance,” I told Ortega before jumping over the wall and leading Psychopathor’s attention away from her.

“Wait, Sides…!”

I pulled out my gun—it was more of an energy caster though, not used to hurt people, just stun them—but I could set it to the maximum setting to produce deadly effects. While at the low setting, stun, wouldn’t kill anything, it also wouldn’t even tickle Psychopathor. So I set it to medium, for now. If it didn’t penetrate his armour even at this setting, then I’d have to resort to my last choice.

Steel was the only one who was able to breach the armour. He shot a hole into the metal and actually hurt the old man. It also resulted in Steel’s takedown. Ortega might not be in the same field when it came to her electric blasts, but…

“Hey! Hey! Over here, you idiot!” I shot the man in the face missing the opening in his armour.

The air around him shimmered to life distorting the light. It was a familiar sight and I couldn’t put it together. At least not until he brought a different gun out of his back discarding the old one in the process.

I recognized the design. With my whole being a normal guy, I spent a lot of time on technology, designing and building them. Even inventing a few new weapons like the YuNitezer—a weapon capable of reducing a skyscraper to dust. And this thing was one of the things that I helped build back in the day.

“An organic telepathic interface,” I whispered in fear.

That thing was an aiming interweb consisting of linked telepathic rodent brains. With that on his side, he would a better chance of hitting his target at least 96% of the time. And sure enough, in the back of my mind, I could feel the scurrying of the rodents searching out for me, trying to get around my redirection. But they were learning from my manipulation—adapting. This wasn’t going to hold forever.

Psycho shot a thick bolt of plasma burning the air around and turning it into electricity that shot around before slamming heavily into the wall a few feet away from me. I wasn’t able to escape completely unscathed though. A stray arm of electricity had found me and touched me—my leg went into immense pain as a result. The energy was too fast for me to control and keep away from me, and now I had a broken leg and partially cooked skin.

“Argh! AH! AH!” my abilities began to lash out in response to the pain.

Cars and debris were flung away from us while other stuff was whirling in the air like a tornado. In anger, I directed several metal beams towards Psychopathor chipping his armour and damaging his targeting system. I could feel that the rats inside were a bit rattled and disturbed. This was the first time I ever used telekinetic abilities. I’m sure they wouldn’t be available after today though and would be a one-time thing.

“You little shit!” Psychopathor bellowed as he swung the cannon in my direction.

The first few shots dispersed in the air due to no longer having a force field to contain the plasma in a solid forme—not even being able to produce electricity. Then on the seventh try, actual bolts of it smashed around me. This time I was ready for the energy and redirected it towards the man frying his technology in the process. This time for good.

“No!” He charged at me.

Even without his tech, his suit was more than enough to knock me off my feet as he crashed into me.

I was sent flying into the air and slammed into a car. I looked up to see Psychopathor take a grenade out of his armour and throw it at me. My movements were slowed because of the exhaustion that was starting to take over and I could do nothing as the metal shrapnel created sparks on the metal that dove towards the fuel leaking from my impact.

My suit protected me from the worst of twisted and mangled metal that blew outwards. It also prevented the small flames from licking my skin. But now I was trapped underneath heavy wreckage that was putting pressure on my body and crushing my already damaged leg.

Psychopathor laughed at my pain and situation. His armour was starting to whir back to life as he prepared to send a plasma bolt to finish me off. Any second, Ortega would show up behind him to send enough bioelectricity through the armour to fry his control systems. Her energy was reasonably more powerful than those bolts of electricity that I sent at him.

But the whirring of his systems was starting to get to the point where he would have enough power to kill me and I couldn’t get loose.

When did I start to imagine that “friends” would arrive at my rescue? When did I get so naive? I was just a liar and a fraud and I was going to die like that. Alone.

—

   Nobody heard my screams as I tore myself free from the constricting blankets and the noise of the floor creaking under my weight as I fell on to it.

It was all just a nightmare.

Using my telepathic powers usually made me dream of old memories and twisted their endings. It was a cruel side effect.

My skin was covered in sweat that made it glisten a light brown colour. The sheets of my bed were still partially wrapped around me forming a shroud. It made my throat tie into a knot. I still wasn’t dead and I wasn’t planning on dying soon, I thought. Naivety or not, Ortega did save me back then. And I was grateful at the very least for that.

I could still smell the acrid smoke that came from the fried armour as Psychopathor fell to his feet, dead. And the look on Ortega’s worried face as she freed me from the rubble.

But that was years ago. Back when Sidestep was alive, and now Ortega was just a distant memory. Playing the hero wasn’t what I had in mind anymore. Most dreams pop like bubbles when they are confronted with reality. Like mine did.

This is why I avoid sleep when I can. The nightmares were always there to remind me.

I climbed back onto my bed and laid there for a while looking at the bare ceiling. Above me was a different life. My life. A life that I was going to slip into later tonight.

But for now, I got up and made my way to the bathroom for a shower. I was starting to make it a habit to check myself in the mirror every time I came in here—I realized as I discarded my clothes slowly while keeping an eye on the mirror. My eyes scanned every inch of my body as I did. Scrutinizing every aspect of me in the process.

My body was under my control and only in mine.

I struck up a jaunty whistle matching an old song from decades prior as I slipped into the shower and turned on the head.

It was a risk getting so close to the Rangers earlier than initially planned. But they happened to have something I needed and there wasn’t any other choice. Lady Argent ending up in battle wasn’t something I planned, but at least it initiated something that would come in handy later on.

There was one thing that I was left itching to do though. Wanting Ortega to be there so that I could beat her.


End file.
